Facebook may Soon Allow Friends to Communicate Just by Brain Waves

As if communicating with emojis is not enough, it seems like in the future, we would not need to use fingers in social media interaction at all. Facebook is developing a software that lets users read each other’s minds!

Virtual reality might be the thing of the past. Now, Facebook plans to take new age gadgetry to a whole new level. It has already set up a group called “Building 8,” which will reportedly research on neuroimaging technology.

The Future Of Communications Is Mind Reading?

Dubbed at the “communications platform of the future,” the technology will look to develop non-invasive methods of scanning and discovering the human brain. It will enable the company to develop a device that will let people communicate telepathically with each other.

“You’ll just be able to think of something and your friends will immediately be able to experience it too if you’d like,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg back in 2015, reported Business Insider. But the futuristic dream of the social media mogul is easier said than done. This is because it has not even been proven that telepathic communications exists in reality.

This is why no one but the best will be included in the research team of Building 8. For the position of brain-computer interface engineer, Facebook will be considering someone with a Ph.D. in neuroscience. The person will not only conceptualize the technology; he/she should be able to deliver something close to the finished product in the next two years.

Another open position involves an engineer who can “develop audio signal processing algorithms” for a “communication and computing platform of the future.” Not much else is known about the ambitious project as of yet.

Facebook Hired DARPA’s Dugan

As for the gadget, it is unclear as to whether Facebook plans to infuse headband-like devices with telepathic technology. The device is intended analyze brain signals and relay it back using Facebook’s social media app.

However, there is a long way to go before Facebook’s mission of “connecting the world” advances to telepathic levels. But hiring Google’s Regina Dugan to spearhead Building 8 is definitely a good start, as reported by Bloomberg.

Dugan was once the director for the U.S. government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The company plans to involve experts from 17 universities to aid in this novel project.